In an action-packed encounter against high-flying Horncastle, who have lost only one game so far and who drew with league leaders Bourne last week, South put up a wholehearted performance despite finishing up on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline. The visitors looked good for their victory on the balance of the game overall, but with a little more luck South could have snatched a welcome point at the death - an outcome that seemed almost inconceivable after ten minutes when Horncastle had raced into a 2-0 lead and were moving the ball around slickly.

The game began inauspiciously when poor marking at a long corner allowed a Horncastle forward time and space to undercut a sizzler past Steve Parker in the South goal; indeed, the ball was in and out of the net so fast that umpires Kevin Pride and Jim Sutcliffe had to play back the mental slow-mos a few times before confirming what had happened. Almost immediately after the restart, Richard Morgan limped off with a twisted knee, prompting the first of several positional rearrangements which saw skipper Jim Thorpe reverting to his more traditional role of centre-back.

Working overtime, though, Thorpe popped up at the far end to strike South's first short after a storming run by John Taylor had been ended by an obstruction. Thorpe got plenty of wood and just the right elevation on the shot but the keeper did well to palm it down from a lying position. Then, after a neat little threesome involving Ryan Thomas, François Lemoine and Chris Baker had been prematurely terminated, it was Horncastle's turn at the setpiece and they made the most of their chance, sending an unstoppable drag-flick just inside the right-hand post on the ten minute mark.

With South under the cosh, Lemoine, Thomas and Andy Rose had to pull out all the stops to prevent further damage, then Parker relieved the pressure with a firm and well-directed kick out past the Horncastle vanguard. South appeared to be adapting to the faster pace when Thorpe channelled a pass forward to Lemoine, who first-timed it to Taylor, but after the consistently excellent Chris Graveling had jumped in for a key interception, Horncastle were in the D again with their awkward reverse-hander, who caused problems throughout, bearing down on goal. This time Parker robbed him with a swingeing tackle and the play switched rapidly through Lemoine, with Thorpe releasing Baker for a confident drive into the D which forced a clearance. Moments later, Baker again angled it forcefully into the circle and Thomas, with a true poacher's instinct, seized on the pass and one-timed it sweetly past the outstretched keeper to reduce the deficit on fifteen minutes.

Further shots by Matt Murray and Doug Leckie, again capitalising on Baker's busy work in the Horncastle 25, were adroitly blocked before Taylor slid one across the face of the goal from Leckie's pass. In the seventeenth minute, Horncastle had a golden opportunity to extend their lead when Mark Freer, who had earlier shown some composure at right-back, tweaked a hamstring on the stretch and had to pull up short as his man got away. But keeper Parker was again to the rescue with a well-judged spread tackle which took enough of the way off the ball for Graveling to effect a late recovery.

Then South, spurred on by the excitement, equalised on eighteen minutes when the skilful Leckie finessed up the right flank and worked the ball into the circle, where the predatory Taylor, recovering his touch, dived in to score as the ball ran loose.

Horncastle, temporarily discomfited, were forced onto the back foot for the next ten minutes as South for once held the whip hand. Urged on by a vociferous Matt Bailey - positional adviser, chief French interpreter and umpiring assessor rolled into one and all topped off with a fetching woollen tea-cosy - South worked it elegantly round the back as Leckie nonchalantly controlled a Barnes Wallis pass from a deeply apologetic Graveling, and then Thomas and Baker combined to gain a short. Thorpe's artful topper had the goalie scrambling uneasily to his left to save but Leckie's shot from the rebound was diverted off a stick.

Baker and Alex Pooles kept up the heat and, following another sleight-of-hand interception from the ubiquitous Graveling, South hassled well to win a third short on twenty-four minutes. Thorpe's switch allowed Baker (twice) and Leckie to shoot but there was no joy, and Thorpe and the versatile Thomas, now playing a slightly deeper role and defending with interest, had to track back smartly to cover their lines. Taylor then sold a Horncastle midfielder a classic nutmeg on halfway as the visitors wriggled uncomfortably; Leckie and Baker posed a constant threat round the D and Pooles, taking over from Rose on the left as the latter dropped back, showed a clean pair of heels up the wing.

But after Taylor - who enjoys playing for South so much that he's got himself posted to Siberia for a month - had put the frighteners on a Horncastle defender in the right corner, the pendulum began to swing as the Lincolnshire side started to find their feet again. On thirty minutes, Parker had to confront a lone attacker and his well-timed dive engineered a long enough detour for Thorpe to cover on the line; then, within a minute, he had to spreadeagle himself to beat out a crashing shot with Horncastle two-on-one and the defence AWOL. After this let-off, South were glad to cling on desperately till half-time, with the visitors dominant round the circle and the ball proving as elusive to the home defence as the Golden Snitch.

The second period started off in the same vein as Parker was faced with another one-on-one; on this occasion, he got close into the attacker's feet, forcing a halt and a hasty scoop which went wide. A reverse-stick dive from a Horncastle forward just failed to connect but the South keeper was soon back in the action with a kick to the wings and then a magnificent diving block after standing up to the striker to the last minute. South rallied in a fast and furious exchange as Graveling, Pooles and Baker zipped the ball crossfield to Murray, but Horncastle kept finding ways through and round the defence and, after a giveaway just outside the D and a period of bagatelle just inside, Parker was caught slightly off-balance as a ballooning short-range effort crept in to give the visitors the lead on forty-four minutes.

South made a spirited reply as Taylor - returning from a quick breather made possible by sub John Benedikz - soon forced the keeper to save to his left and then swapped passes with Pooles to maintain the pressure. Graveling brought some order to the defence with good distribution and supremely resolute tackling and, after shadowing a shot wide of goal, snuffed out a two-man break with a critical interception.

South's fourth short, on fifty minutes, broke down after Thorpe's switch and the to-and-fro continued as the quick-thinking Parker forced a Horncastle forward round onto his wrong side, drawing an exasperated miss. Thomas, a Trojan in midfield, showed his paces at this point, first clearing with a reverse and then feeding Murray, who painted his man into a corner before crossing to the centre. Two successive long corners promised a reward but a bulldog effort by Thorpe was somehow kept out and, despite Taylor and Leckie's persistence, Horncastle slipped the noose to set up a two-on-one which Parker coolly dismantled with a pinpoint clearance to the wing.

South were unlucky not to win a short on fifty-five minutes as the visitors packed their defence with Baker on the loose, but the ball emerged from a forest of guilty legs and Horncastle powered downfield to claim a short. The resulting drag-flick would have graced a team from several divisions higher and, though it whistled over the bar at a rate of knots, Horncastle soon made amends when South's defensive corps was left for dead and the ball was swept in with three men free in the D.

But Parker kept his team in the game, bringing off yet another ground-shuddering tackle in the next breath and then clearing the ball long to Taylor after Rose and Thomas had battled grimly in the D. Despite everything, South were not finished and Murray's constant badgering in the upper quadrant helped win a fifth short on sixty-one minutes. Thorpe's switch quickly led to a deflected reverse hit from Thomas which, cruelly, was stopped on the line and cleared with the goalie well beaten.

Taylor, Leckie and Baker all got close in the next three minutes and Thorpe strode forward on the drive but South were over-reliant on Graveling at the rear and, though he showed tremendous stamina and resilience, Parker was increasingly exposed to the rapacious Horncastle front-line. But the South keeper was equal to the task, again devouring a two-on-one with a superbly-timed block for Rose to clear and set Thomas up for a determined last assault in the dying minutes. Pooles, Lemoine and Taylor desperately tried to find a way through the barrage and Taylor nearly got a shot off on sixty-eight minutes as he used his elbows well to clear some space near the penalty spot. But South were running on empty now and, as Horncastle flooded upfield, it was left to Parker to keep the home goal intact in a fine solo effort, first staring out a one-on-one with a split-second dive and then finishing in a blaze as he angled away a vicious flick with an incredible stick save to his right.

Final analysis: though South could have no complaints about the result and the rearranged defence and midfield was sometimes overfaced by the sheer pace and organisation of the Horncastle front line, there was plenty of commitment and spirit in evidence and, if the side sticks religiously to its basic marking tasks, there is little doubt that progress can still be made.